


Silver/Gold

by his_valentine



Series: Sheith Series [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:41:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24496636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/his_valentine/pseuds/his_valentine
Summary: [reuploaded]
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Sheith Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769773
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

It'd all started with a shared vice, a secret kept between acquaintances. Sometimes, just before lights-out at the Garrison, Keith would go up on the rooftop to smoke a cigarette. One day, as he opened the exit door, he wrinkled his nose, thinking that maybe he should slow down. It already smelled like... stale tobacco that was currently burning?

When he walked out, he saw none other than the esteemed graduate Shirogane Takashi sitting on the ground, knees pulled up and a defeated, frustrated look on his face as he resolutely puffed at a bent cigarette. He had one arm laid across his legs, loosely holding an old, scuffed soft pack.

Keith knew who he was.

He'd been, at first, just curious about the top scorer in all of the simulations. Over time he had gotten maybe a little obsessed with how perfect the 'Golden Boy' seemed. He might have gotten a hold of a copy of his schedule, and maybe once or twice 'got lost' in such a direction that he'd end up catching a glimpse.

So, seeing his hero from afar suddenly up close, much less like this, was a big shock to him. He wasn't even wearing his jacket. He had it with him, but it was just draped over his shoulders.

"Hey," he deadpanned ineloquently. Shirogane startled and looked at him like he was ready to bolt. Shit. Think fast, Keith. He felt his own pack in his hand, in his pocket, and offered it out to show some sort of solidarity. "You want a fresh one?" he asked.

Shiro glanced from the pack to Keith's face, then back down at it. "Y-yeah," he said, voice thick like he'd been trying not to cry, and smashed his old one into the ground. Keith stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say, as the older man reached out and plucked one from his pack.

"Mind if I...?" Keith asked as he brought one to his own lips. Shiro nodded, and Keith lit up and slid down the wall to sit next to him.

They smoked together in silence for a while. Shiro was the first to speak up, asking, "What's your name? I'm Takashi Shirogane... You can just call me Shiro, everybody else does."

Keith committed the nickname to memory. He didn't know much Japanese, but he did know enough to blurt out, "That means white, right? I'm Keith."

"Keith?" Shiro echoed with a raised brow.

Keith sputtered before he could answer. "Keith Kogane," he ammended. Shiro actually cracked a tiny little smile at that.

"Silver and gold, huh?" he quipped. Despite himself, Keith blushed. "You know, you shouldn't be up here this late. You could get into trouble, especially if they caught you smoking," he had the nerve to motion at Keith's cigarette with his own.

"You shouldn't be smoking either," Keith retorted as he flicked the ashes off, "aren't you in the running for the Kerberos mission? Actual astronauts can't smoke." He only realized how much he'd let slip when he saw Shiro's eyes widen in surprise.

"How did you know that?" Shiro asked, bluntly.

Keith tried to shrug it off, muttering out something like, "Just recognized your name from the list," when the truth was more like 'I looked at the list because I saw your name on it.'

"Oh, I see," Shiro accepted the reasoning at face value. "Well, at any rate, thank you for the cigarette and the company, Keith."

He liked the way the older man said his name. "I'm usually up here every other night or so, so if you ever need it again..." he trailed off, trying to seem aloof.

"Ugh," Shiro let out, "I only smoke once in a while, after my father calls to tell me I'm _still_ a disappointment," he said with a hint of venom in his voice that seemed at odds with the friendly chatter just moments earlier.

"Oh," Keith said, not sure what else to say to that. Shiro sighed heavily and thumped his head back against the wall.

"I should just give up on making him happy. It's all because of the fact that I'm gay. That doesn't even mean he can't have grandchildren these days," Shiro explained, though it almost seemed like a self-directed monolouge, with the way he stared up at the sky instead of over at Keith.

Which was probably a good thing, since the moment he'd mentioned being gay, Keith's mouth had dropped open in shock. _The_ Takashi Shirogane was gay? If anything, that made his earlier oogling a little more awkward. He managed to close his mouth by the time Shiro turned to look at him again, but he still had a disbelieving look on his face.

"I probably should apologize for telling you that," Shiro said, misreading the look. "Look, it's fine if you're not gay. I'm pretty sure you're too young for me anyway, so don't worry ab-"

"It's not that!" Keith exclaimed, and Shiro startled to silence. "I, uh, I mean," Keith scrambled his brains for a suitable excuse. "I don't care about that, it's just that..."

"That...?" Shiro pressed when Keith had trailed off and started looking off to the side, to the ground, anywhere but at him.

"You're kind of my hero so it really sucks that your dad doesn't see how amazing you are just because of something dumb like that," Keith said in a rush, then squawked in embarrassment and put a hand over his mouth.

Shiro's eyebrows raised, and then he started to blush, just staring at Keith for several long moments. All of a sudden, for the first time, Keith noticed just how much taller the older man looking down at him was.

"Ah..." Shiro stammered a bit before he figured out what to say, "Nobody's ever said anything like that to me before. Thanks?" he asked. He went to take one last drag before crushing it against the floor. Keith realized he'd accidentally smoked a whole cigarette while talking and followed suit with his butt.

"I should get going," Keith mumbled, standing up and kicking the burnt up cigarettes over the edge of the roof. "I'll," he paused, not wanting to say 'see you later,' then said instead, "see you around. Bye, Shiro."

"Oh, alright. Bye?" Shiro seemed a little offput by how twitchy Keith had gotten, but made no move to stop him as he retreated back to the stairwell.

* * *

It was a few months later when Dr. Hedrick of the Astronomy Department stepped in front of his class and announced, loudly, "Cadets! We will be hosting a tutor for a few weeks. You _will_ show respect to Pilot Officer Shirogane," he said the last part while staring directly at Keith. On instinct, Keith stared defiantly back, even as he mentally panicked.

Just as he'd started to consider the possibility of there being more than one Pilot Officer Shirogane, he walked in, dashing Keith's hopes. He smiled lightly at the class, and even if he recognized Keith in the crowd of cadets he didn't show any immediate reaction.

He bristled when he overheard a girl somewhere behind him giggle and whisper to somebody sitting nearby, "He's _cute_."

"I'm also here to learn, just like all of you, but I'll help in any way I can," he recited as if the greeting had been pre-planned, then took his seat in the corner of the room.

Keith's eyes kept wandering all throughout the lecture, watching as Shiro sat there until he was sure of what they were covering, before he started to move around the room.

"I'm not sure I get it~" the same girl who'd called him cute was quick to claim as he neared. Shiro took one look at her relatively empty desktop, then back to the projector that Dr. Hedrick had pulled up.

"What exactly don't you get?" he asked. She shrugged, staring at him openly now. He sort of grimaced, catching onto her intentions. "You should copy the professor's notes for now, even if you don't understand what you're writing. That way you can work off of them later and address the specific points you're having trouble with," he suggested. She looked less than pleased at the rational response.

"Alright," she sighed, then flipped her notebook open and diligently caught up on note taking. Keith looked down at his own notes, which were not notes at all. Instead, he'd been doodling a desert landscape.

When Shiro passed by, though, he didn't take much note of it. In fact, despite his charismatic greeting, he didn't seem inclined to talk unless called upon. He ultimately ended up at the front, sitting next to a deaf student that nonetheless had a reputation as hardworking. They were passing notes, Shiro looking up to smile at her as she started to better understand the topic.

Keith tried not to be jealous. Especially when, at the end of the class, she mimed a phone at him as she asked for his number, and he agreed. He left the room before they were done exchanging phone numbers.

* * *

It wasn't until the third Monday that Shiro finally approached him, after the end of class. "Ah... Kyle?" he asked, sounding unsure. Keith grimaced.

"It's Keith," he reminded him. Shiro winced as well.

"Sorry, Keith," he apologized, sounding sincere enough. "I was going to ask if we could..." he mimed two fingers to his lips, emulating a smoke. Keith's brow raised, and he glanced around to see if anybody had noticed.

Nobody did, so he nodded, but then quietly reminded him, "It's the middle of the day. Where are we gonna go?"

"Follow me," Shiro said, "and act like you're in trouble. From the way Hedrick looks at you, I'm assuming you've had practice."

Keith huffed a sarcastic little laugh, but followed along with the plan, shoving his hands into his pockets and slouching over. He even dragged his feet a bit, until Shiro paused to look back and snap at him, "Hurry up," with enough conviction that Keith actually hustled.

Shiro led the way through the freshman halls, and then past that. Keith kept up, though it wouldn't be easy to lose him. Only a few students matched Shiro's height, even when they started weaving around other graduates.

They came to an exit on the other side of the massive building. One of the doormen glanced over them, then looked to Shiro and asked, boredly, "What's this about?"

"Caught this kid smoking, so I figured I'd make him clean up where the instructors smoke," he said, not missing a beat. He even looked the guy in the eye and smiled.

"Ugh," the guy answered, then laughed, "good luck, kid," he said, then waved them past.

Keith almost smirked as they passed, though he managed to hold it in until they were facing away from him. Shiro led them just outside the outer archway, then turned the corner to go behind the gate pillar.

As they neared, Keith felt his nose wrinkle at the acrid scent of old cigarette butts that had been wet. Sure enough, tucked into the corner where the wall met the pillar was a veritable mound of inexplicably damp cigarette butts. There was a small trench shovel next to a full trashcan with a box of empty bags on it, showing that this was a reoccurring issue.

"Fucking gross," Keith muttered.

"Right? Now, hand over those cigarettes and your lighter," Shiro demanded, holding out his hand.

Keith raised a brow. "Seriously?" he asked.

"Did I say I was joking?" he asked. Keith shrugged and handed over the pack. Shiro did hand him one before he brought another to his lips and lit it. Keith took the lighter back and lit his, too.

They stood there in silence again, in the shadow of the outer wall. This time, it was Keith who spoke up first, asking on an exhale, "Your dad again?"

"No," Shiro answered, looking a little surprised that Keith remembered that, "actually, Samantha came onto me on our way to class. She's upset that I didn't 'warn her' that I was... you know," he huffed, looking more annoyed than depressed this time. "Even if I wasn't, she's too young," he added on.

"Everybody always assumes I'm straight, too," Keith said, trying to sound nonchalant even as he was gauging Shiro's reaction out of the corner of his eye. He looked a little shocked, but not entirely surprised.

"Yeah," Shiro said noncommittally, but then segued into, "Hey, do you go to Flight Practice in the afternoon on Wednesdays?"

That was... really specific, not to mention completely spot-on. Keith stared at him suspiciously as he nodded.

"I start tutoring there after I'm done with Astronomy in a week. So I went there and looked up the recent scores and current roster. You're just listed as K.Kogane, so... Sorry again about getting your name wrong. Good job on the Heavy Debris score, though. I always had trouble with that one."

Heavy Debris was Keith's only top spot, just barely above the old score set by Shiro himself, who'd dominated most of the scoreboards for several years now. "It's fine, thanks," he said quietly, smiling at the recognition.

"Anyway, it's time to clean up now," Shiro said, snuffing his cigarette out before tossing it to the mound. "If you do it by yourself, I'll give your pack back."

"What the fuck?" Keith sputtered, then glared. Shiro just smirked, hands already in his own pockets. "Fine," he snapped, then stormed over and grabbed the shovel.

"Thanks, Keith," Shiro chimed, infuriatingly. He passed by on his way to leave, and Keith bristled as he felt Shiro's hand slip the pack back into his pocket. "I'll see you later," he quipped as he left.

Keith grumbled as he set to shovelling. He distantly heard Shiro casually tell the guard to make sure he came back in. 'Like I have anywhere else to go,' he thought bitterly as he tried to fit as much as he could into the first bag, then the second, and ultimately decided to use a third bag as the fresh one.

The guard came nowhere near him as he waved him in the direction where the big dumpsters were just barely visible down the dusty road running through. Keith turned and begrudgingly set off. The first bag was leaking a toxic black syrup out of one corner, so he expended the additional energy to hold it away from his body as he carried it.

It still took two rounds of washing to get the smell out. He resolved to quit smoking that night.

* * *

Shiro didn't approach him again during his last week of tutoring Astronomy, though Keith had to admit that he hadn't made the effort either. That quickly changed when he started showing up at Flight Practice though.

He made a beeline to the younger boy as soon as the class was dismissed. "Keith?" Shiro asked, sounding far less unsure about it this time.

Keith glanced up from his coursework and tilted his head curiously. "Yeah?" he asked, hoping against hope that Shiro wouldn't...

Shiro held two fingers to his mouth briefly, signaling 'smoke break?' to him. Keith frowned, shook his head, then shrugged and looked back to the papers in front of him.

"Ah... How about you co-pilot for me, then?" he asked, nodding to the doors of the room-sized higher-end simulators for the senior cadets and graduates. Keith noticeably perked at that offer, and then looked between them and Shiro with an excited little smile.

"Really?" he checked, even as he was already packing away the spread of pages across his desk. "Is it true that they cover real routes?" he asked as they walked over to one.

"Yeah. I want to relax, so we're just going to cover one of the easiest trade routes to our moon, the mid-summer one, using a small cargo ship," he explained as he input the keycodes, Keith watching far too carefully. The lock disengaged and swooshed open, then they stepped inside. The door closed after a moment, enveloping both of them in complete darkness.

The lights started out dim, so that their eyes could accumulate as first the console came to life, and then the screen. Keith blinked as the simulation came to at a step the entry-level sims usually skipped - preparation. There were average-faced everymen scurrying to and fro in the shuttle bay with the last-minute loading of fuel.

He heard Shiro make an impatient noise, and snapped to attention to find that the older man was already sitting in the pilot's seat. "We have to be ready when they are," he snapped in an authoritative tone. Keith hurried to his seat and began buckling himself in.

Seconds later, the simulation started to move forward. The engineers filed out of a door that sealed after them. After that, the whole room started to upend, the front of the cockpit pointing upward as the launch bay doors opened to the sky.

"Warm up the battery and turn on the radio, would you?" Shiro asked politely. Keith scanned over the console layout, which had way more dials and switches on it than the ones he usually used. He found the relevent settings quickly enough, engaging the battery and then beginning to play with the radio until the crackling was barely audible.

"Are you ready to launch?" a voice asked over it.

"We are clear for take-off," Shiro responded. "Keith, open the fuel lines," he then said to his co-pilot.

"Fuel lines are open," Keith responded as he took care of it.

The radio came back to life again, a pre-recorded voice drawling, "Engage thrusters in 3, 2, 1..."

Keith hit the button at the same time the voice got to, "Initiate launch," and the whole cockpit was filled with the harsh sound of take-off as it began to rumble. The incredible technology that went into the simulators was even able to impart the sensation of inertia, as Keith and Shiro both sank into their seats.

On the screen, they were shooting out of the launch bay and into the sky, rapidly closing in on the clouds. They punched through them and continued past, up and up until the atmosphere around them was clearly thinning, every star visible in the dark expanse of space.

Keith stared, dumbstruck. He'd never experienced a full launch yet, not even through the simulators. The entry-level sims started up with the ship already in space, since they just covered specific scenarios.

Shiro was checking levels and turning on a few more things, obviously more used to the proceedings. "We've officially escaped Earth's gravity. Keith, are you okay?"

"That was amazing!" Keith shouted, sitting up as much as he could against the buckles. Shiro smiled, struck by how happy Keith looked for the first time since they'd met.

Still, there was a mission to be completed. "Keep an eye out for satellites. There shouldn't be any coming too close, but we don't want to drop our guard and get blind-sided."

Mistakes like that in the real world were invariably deadly, not to mention the material cost and cleanup. Keith nodded, focusing back to the goal at hand.

"How long will it take?" Keith asked, glancing away from the window briefly to look at his pilot.

"Only about 2 hours, as long as we don't need to readjust our course," Shiro said, sitting back. He fished his phone out of the pocket of his uniform and pulled up his music. "You don't mind, do you?" Shiro asked, turning it down to a low volume that they could easily talk over.

He leaned his seat back and settled in, the two of them sitting in relative silence for the majority of the time. There was a point, once they were entering the satelitte zone of the moon, where Shiro had mentioned calmly, "Keep an eye on that one," while motioning to an oncoming Moon News satelitte.

A quick boost from the thrusters was enough for them to pass by without incident. "Great job, Keith," Shiro praised.

After that, it was smooth sailing. Shiro sat back up to manually guide the cargo ship into the readied docking bay, Keith once more intently watching the exact process. The thrusters ran out of power just as he made the tethers latch on, and the sim started to fade out as they were pulled down.

A message appeared onscreen: "`SCORE: 10.000 (PERFECT), TIME: 1:48:25.08 - CONGRATULATIONS TAKASHI SHIROGANE AND [CO-PILOT DETECTED, NO CREDENTIALS ENTERED]!`"

"Hey," Shiro said with a proud smile, "a new record. Good reflexes on the boost, Keith. A moment longer and I would have had to grind the ship into the dock."

Keith nodded, but he was looking down at his lap humbly. Shiro grabbed for his shoulder fondly and squeezed, since he wouldn't see the smile. "I mean it. You're a natural. I'm gonna go see if I can get you a pass for co-piloting for me. You deserve the credit there just as much as I do."

"You can do that?" Keith asked, looking back up at him.

"Of course, that means I'd have to take you on as an official apprentice. I need you to promise me to stop getting into trouble, if that's going to be the case," Shiro said, leveling him with a somber expression.

"I'll do my best," Keith promised. They then nodded to each other and exited the sim. By then, dinner was nearly wrapping up as they went their seperate ways to catch a bite.

* * *

In his defense, Keith really had been trying to stay out of trouble. But word traveled fast, especially as Keith started to work ahead of the rest of his Flight Practice class, often slipping away to go into one of the advanced simulators with Shiro while the rest filed out at the end.

They'd finally started talking during the duller sections of their test flights. Shiro felt his heart drop when he'd asked if Keith's parents were proud of him and he'd heard the story of how he became an orphan instead.

Keith, too, learned as much about Shiro as he could, down to his favorite food and color (mac n' cheese and black, respectively.) He knew his infatuation had passed the point of no return the first time he made Shiro laugh at a particularly biting comment about one of the instructors.

Shiro had also started showing up at the dorm Keith shared with another student, to make sure that he was doing well in all of his classes, not just flying.

"So, your boyfriend coming over?" Keith's roommate, Alex, had asked that evening. "I'll be heading out tonight, so maybe you could finally get-"

"Ugh," Keith groaned, throughly tired of Alex's ribbing, "shut up, seriously."

'Besides,' Keith thought sourly, 'Shiro already has a boyfriend.' It had come up, just a brief mention on Shiro's end, and Keith hadn't wanted to know any more about it so he'd never asked.

"You, shut up," Alex snapped back, sitting up from his bed. "At least I head out to get some! Do you know how awkward it is to watch you make passes at a grown-ass man in the room I'm 'sposed to sleep in!? Why's he even allowed in here anyway!?"

"I told you, he's my mentor! You're the only one who thinks it's weird! It's a program they have here, so if you don't like it, maybe you should get the rules changed," Keith explained for what he swore was at least the second time.

This time, though, Alex seemed to be thinking about it, glowering. He gruffed, "Is this like part of the program that put you here?" but before Keith could respond to that, Alex snorted and said derisively, "So, what, he's 'sposed to replace your dead parents?"

Keith couldn't fucking believe he'd go so far just to get under his skin. Before even he knew what he was doing he'd pounced onto Alex and swung, roaring. Up close, Keith realized something - Alex had been drinking.

Alex kicked and flailed, easily pushing Keith away, who was the smaller one. Keith didn't want to keep going, knew that they were on thin ice with the Garrison and that they could both end up expelled over this. However, as he tried to say, "Hey, wa-" he was punched in the gut.

There was a pounding at the door, but Keith was doubled over in pain. Alex kneed him in the face, pushed him to the ground harshly and only then did he storm over to open the door, glaring at the Dormmaster. "He hit me first!"

"Both of you, with me, immediately!" the man hollared, grabbing at the arm Alex had brought up to point at his cheek and using it to jerk him along. "Kogane!" he yelled at Keith, who was rolling up onto his hands and knees.

"C-" he coughed and tried again, "coming!" He climbed to his feet and followed, allowing himself to be snatched by the arm in a similar manner as Alex.

They ended up getting tossed into seats and told to wait to be called. Alex was first, and Keith tried to will his body calm and his thoughts straight as he waited. He startled again at the sound of Alex blowing up at the Corrections Officer.

Alex came out via security, two men holding him by each arm. He looked mostly defeated, but when he locked eyes with Keith, he spat, viciously, "You're just a no good faggot anyway!"

Keith felt all the tension come back, along with some extra. He realized that the hot feeling suffusing his face was oncoming tears, but he swallowed them back. Alex had claimed to be his friend, back when they were first roomed together. They both had a certain rebellious streak that they'd found a kinship in, though Keith was more likely to ignore an instructor's exact direction while Alex had always preferred targeting fellow students.

For him to have switched his opinion so drastically meant he probably wouldn't be seeing him again. Against his better instincts, Keith hissed back just as sourly, "Bye, Alex." That earned him a glare from the Dormmaster, but so be it. He waited to be called into the office. It was taking a long time.

Keith had started to panic when he saw that they'd called in Shiro instead, who apparently hadn't been planning to stop by today, if the frumpy state of his hastily put on uniform was anything to go by. He frowned at Keith, disappointed, and then walked into the room.

Keith was finding it harder than ever as he tried not to cry. It wasn't even like this was his fault this time, Alex had been the aggressor. He heard snippets of the conversation, and realized with shock that Shiro was actually advocating for him once more. After that discussion, Shiro came back out and turned to him.

"Look," Keith began, "I know I messed up again. I can't do this right, and you should stop sticking up for me already," he muttered, hands clenched tight on his lap.

"We've went over this before. I'll never give up on you. You just need to believe in yourself the way I believe in you," Shiro spoke evenly. Keith clutched the moment close to his heart and held onto it.

* * *

Shiro returned with the news, "I managed to get you leave, but it's for practice because now you've got to get your driver's license by the end of the month. Do you know why you're a flight risk?"

Keith shrugged, uncaring. "Who knows? I didn't ever try to ditch." He may have claimed he would, back when he'd first been forcibly enrolled - but that was before he'd fully realized that his father was dead, before he had decided there wasn't anywhere better for him to be.

Shiro shrugged, then glanced to the mostly empty knapsack in Keith's hand. "Aren't you packed yet?" Shiro asked. They were planning to head pretty far out into the middle of nowhere to go driving. He trusted that Keith would do fine, but since he didn't have his license yet it would be best to go somewhere desolute.

"I have water, and I'm planning to pick up some stuff there," Keith said cryptically as he slung the bag over one shoulder. "We're still going to where I said, right?"

Shiro nodded, using his phone briefly to doublecheck the GPS coordinates Keith had sent him the day before. "What exactly is here? I see what looks like a little shack, but-"

"It's not a shack!" Keith immediately snapped. Shiro winced, mumbling an apology. "It's... you'll see. Can we just get going?" he asked, still ruffled. Shiro led the way to the parking lot.

Keith had figured they'd be taking turns driving Shiro's car, or even on his hoverbike - he'd been hoping for the latter. Instead, he saw a van with the backseats folded down to make room for two bikes. Shiro's usual sleek red one, and a larger, bulkier-looking black one.

"How much do you make!?" Keith asked, trying to value each vehicle along with the car he knew Shiro had. Shiro, though, laughed like it was a joke.

"The van is my friend Matt's, and the other bike is Adam's," Shiro explained. Keith didn't really know either of those names, so he just nodded blankly. Shiro continued talking as they got in the van, informing Keith that, "He, ah, doesn't really trust you with his bike, so I'll be using his while you can ride mine."

"That's cool," Keith said with a shrug as they pulled out. "Yours is the faster one anyway."

"Speed isn't everything. Sometimes slow and steady can win the race," Shiro said, eyes on the road. Keith turned to watch the landscape zoom past.

He saw a familar outcropping of rock coming up ahead - though it was all reversed since his memories usually saw it from the perspective of heading in from the city, rather than the Garrison. "Turn left at that rock," Keith said.

"There's no turnoff there," Shiro pointed out.

"It's the easiest route there after you drop off the highway," Keith insisted. Shiro eyed the low shoulder of the highway as they were approaching the rock. There was no other traffic, either. As they passed the rock Shiro saw that there was a small hill that had obviously been used as a turnoff ramp, though not often or recently. He took the opportunity, using the hill to drive down off of the road.

Keith guided him through the desert after that point, using rock formations as landmarks until they could see a small building in the distance, which Keith had pointed out with an excitable, "Over there!"

Shiro had hardly engaged the breaks as they pulled up when Keith threw himself from the vehicle and went running toward the front of the building. He was looking around like he expected something. When it didn't happen, he slowed to a walk until he was at the front door.

"Keith?" Shiro asked quietly as he followed. Keith had stopped, and his shoulders were shaking like he was trying not to cry.

"It was dumb of me to think she'd still be here. She's probably dead." Keith muttered, quietly enough that Shiro had to draw closer to hear him.

"Who?" Shiro asked as he finally came up behind Keith and rubbed his shoulder.

"Just a stupid dog..." Keith mumbled, sniffling. Shiro's hold tightened and he pulled Keith to his side in a hug.

"Don't say that. She was important to you. What was her name?" Shiro asked. Keith rubbed at his face, blinking away the tears that had welled up.

"Kuro. 'Cause she was all black, and Dad didn't like the name Shadow," he said, the memories bringing a tense, sad little smile to his face.

"You and your dad lived here," Shiro remarked as the pieces fell into place for him. "You can go get whatever you want from here, then we'll go drive around. Okay?"

Keith nodded and went in. Shiro unloaded the bikes while he waited. He'd considered going in, but the idea had felt somehow invasive, like this was Keith's special place and the two of them weren't close enough yet for him to see the interior.

Keith only had his eye out for a few things - he grabbed a favored throw blanket and a small framed photo of him and his father. It took some looking around, and Keith nearly panicked when he couldn't find it right away, but eventually he found his mother's knife on the floor, under the corner of the coffee table. Once he had it all packed away he went outside to rejoin Shiro.

The rest of the evening flew by far too quickly for either of them. A mere two drag races from Keith's old home and back later, Shiro's alarm was going off to remind them to start heading back. "Glad I set that," Shiro said as he dismissed it, "or else I would have lost track of time."

"Can't we do one more?" Keith pleaded, bouncing in the seat of the red hoverbike. He had just won the last one, leaving them at an even 1 to 1 score.

"Yeah," Shiro replied, but just as Keith threw his hands up to celebrate he also said, "this time next week. Come on, let's get these back in the van."

Keith blew him a raspberry, but hopped off and started to walk it over as Shiro hefted the black one in. He considered offering to move the red one himself, but then he saw the way Shiro's muscles strained under the effort and decided to just watch.

The drive back was more perilous on Shiro's end, now that it was dark, but Keith was able to lead them back just as easily as he had in the late afternoon. They didn't chat about much else, more wiped out from all the racing around they'd done than either of them would admit.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, did you hear? They put out the choices for the Kerberos mission with Dr. Holt," someone was explaining one morning as Keith came out of his room (which was still all his for the time being, at least until the new semester started, bringing with it new cadets.)

He looked over at the announcement screen as he passed through the lounge. It honestly didn't surprise him when he saw that Takashi Shirogane had been chosen to be the pilot. He was the true natural at it.

He did feel a little worried, though. There was always the chance that something could happen. That's why he chose to skip his morning class and go see Shiro. At this time of day, he'd probably be in the gym.

He rarely followed Shiro into the gym, infact he planned his own schedule so that he could avoid it. Truth be told, it would be easier for them to spot for one another, and Shiro could teach him proper form. They'd tried it once. Keith had been forced to leave the moment Shiro had effortlessly picked him up while showing him how to do a pull-up easier. He'd spent the next several hours locked in the private washroom playing with himself, only stopping once he heard Alex come in.

He paused as soon as he'd passed the doors into the auditorium. Shiro was there alright, but apparently he'd begun running a seminar for hand-to-hand combat, just another one of the Golden Boy's many talents. He was posed, shirtless nonetheless, in front of several cadets, who were all copying his stance to various degrees.

He didn't look over, intent on his class, so Keith snuck in for a closer look. Suddenly, there was a guy beside him, and Keith nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed.

The guy seemed a little older than him, with moppish brown hair and glasses. He grinned, asking rather too loudly for Keith's comfort, "Hey there! Are you interested in joining Shiro's class? You're a little late, though."

Keith looked over to Shiro and realized he was busted. At the mention of his name, his mentor's head shot up, but now his eyes narrowed at the familar face.

"Keep stretching until I get back!" Shiro told the class before walking around the group to approach. "Keith, why aren't you in Mathematics?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Is this Keith!?" the other guy asked, "Shiro, you didn't tell me he was cute," he then teased. Keith scowled at him.

"Holt," Shiro said sharply. Holt just snorted in response, rolling his eyes. But then, Shiro turned his attention back to Keith. "You haven't answered me yet," he pointed out.

"I came to congratulate you on getting into the Kerberos mission!" Keith snapped. In fact, now that he thought about it, the other two names had both been... "You too," he said to Holt, obviously as an afterthought.

"Oh," Shiro said softly, obviously second-guessing his initial tone. "Still, you should get to your class," he pointed out anyway.

"Why? I already worked ahead," Keith said breezily. It was true. Piloting required a lot of math, most often on the wing, so he'd gotten half decent at doing it. "Let me join your class for today," he insisted.

"Feisty," Holt quipped.

"Alright. We'll show them some actual moves in action before they pair off," Shiro was saying as he turned and walked back to where he'd been, beckoning Keith to follow.

"Wait, what?" Keith asked, even as he followed. When they got to the front of the class, Shiro had the two of them facing one another.

"Come at me, Keith," Shiro instructed.

"How?" Keith asked, looking confused.

"Just like any other time you fight," Shiro sighed, as if it should be obvious. Keith narrowed his eyes, bristling at the dismissive tone and the blase way that Shiro was calling him out in front of all these other students. If that's what he wanted, then... with an unintended snarl, Keith ran at Shiro and jumped-

Only to find himself spinning on the other side of Shiro, after Shiro had yanked on his arm as he moved aside, using Keith's momentum against him. Shiro flashed a smile at him once he caught his footing, not the least bit ruffled. That only served to irritate Keith more.

Shiro wasn't the first person with actual martial arts skill that he'd picked a fight with. He just had to come at this more tactically. He stepped forward, then made to lunge at Shiro again, after noticing that his mentor intended to demonstrate a kick.

However, just as Shiro's foot lifted off the ground, Keith adruptly dropped into a slide instead, sweeping out Shiro's other foot from underneath. "You little-!" Shiro tried to yell as he fell to the mat. The class started to murmur.

Keith let out a breathless whoop of a laugh as he scrambled to try and pin Shiro in front of the class. There wasn't much chance, given that Shiro was strong enough to break Keith's amateur attempt at a hold.

Shiro flipped them with ease, slamming Keith down facefirst and sitting on him just a bit more roughly than was completely necessary. With one hand planted into the small of his back and the other twisting Keith's arm, Shiro hissed, "Yield."

Keith struggled, but it was useless, and only served to make the arm behind his back start to twinge. He gasped out, breathlessly, "I yield, Shiro."

"You're damn right," Shiro agreed as he pushed up off of him. Keith wasn't sure if he could get up just yet. His messed up psyche had decided that this situation was going to give him a chub. It'd probably get awkward before long, though, so Keith compromised by sitting up, facing directly away from everybody else.

"Go ahead and pair off now, take turns doing the spin on one another to start," Shiro announced to the class, then looked down at Keith curiously. "Do you need help getting up?" he asked.

"No, just give me a second to catch my breath," Keith excused as he picked himself up, his problem having faded away. "Look, I get it. I'm sorry for getting mouthy with you," he said.

"Hey," Shiro said, stepping closer to put his hand on Keith's shoulder. "Don't think of it that way. I'm glad you're excited about the mission. You seem to be pretty interested in Kerberos for somebody who's too young to be a candidate."

Keith flushed, realizing that this was a trap he'd set up for himself. Truth be told, he didn't know anything about Kerberos, beyond the fact that it was sofar unexplored, and Shiro had been chosen to be the pilot for it.

"Well, it is the furthest mission we've ever mounted. After this, scientists - including myself - think it won't take much more effort to exit the heliosphere entirely!" Holt said, having suddenly appeared again. Keith startled, unused to it, but Shiro just glanced to Holt as if he'd been there all along.

"Yeah," Keith agreed, trying to smile. That sounded like a good enough reason to be excited about it. Shiro didn't look entirely convinced, but he did let it slide.

"Alright, both of you," Shiro said. "You've distracted me enough. Keith, get to class," the way he said that left no room for argument. Keith shrugged and turned to leave, figuring the impromptu spar with Shiro was enough exercise anyway.

As he left, he heard Shiro ask Holt, a little more politely, "and Matt, could you try to recruit at least two more for me for next time? I need to have a full class to get the full amount."

Classes went by in a blur for Keith that day, and he was told to stop daydreaming more than once. He didn't intend to, but his mind wasn't cooperating. It was content to replay his scuffle with Shiro over and over again. That annoying, cocky smirk had brought out the piercing grey of his eyes. When Keith had tried in vain to keep him down, he'd instantly memorized just how firm Shiro's muscles were, and how warm he felt.

The pin that had ended it was still dangerous to think about, so he'd usually break himself out of the trance by them. He couldn't spend too long thinking about how effortlessly Shiro could move him around and then hold him in place. There was no way he'd sit there and obsess over the way Shiro's voice had dropped as he demanded submission. It wasn't like he got some sort of weird thrill off of how his rotated shoulder hadn't been painful until he'd tried to fight against it, and even now it still ached.

By the time he was heading back to his room, Keith had to break protocol in the hallway so that he could tie his jacket around his waist to conceal the twitching evidence of his fantasizing. Luckily, he managed to avoid the eyes of any staff member strict enough to care. Just as he turned the last corner, assuming that he was home free, he saw both Shiro and Holt waiting outside the door.

Keith ducked back behind the corner, and peeked in order to make sure - yep, still there. He hid again and groaned quietly to himself. It would have been bad enough, but somewhat expected, for Shiro to be there. But why was Holt tagging along?

Heaving a steadying breath, Keith steeled his nerves and calmed his body, preparing to just get the encounter over with, so that he could lock his door and take full advantage of the fact he had the room to himself. He turned the corner once more and walked over. Shiro waved to him as he approached.

"Keith," he greeted. Keith just nodded, looking from him to Holt expectantly.

"Hey, we were wondering if you wanted to come celebrate with us, since you're such a big Kerberos fan. They're keeping an eye on our rooms, since they might be expecting us to party," Holt started to quickly talk, smiling too openly for Keith's comfort again.

Keith looked to Shiro for confirmation. He looked like he wasn't the one who came up with the idea, so he just shrugged, leaving the choice up to Keith.

"Fine," Keith agreed, even though a part of him knew he shouldn't be agreeing to hang out with graduates after hours. "Just the three of you, though."

"The three of us?" Shiro asked, confused.

"Yeah, isn't there the other guy?" Keith asked, tilting his head slightly as he struggled to remember anything beyond the fact that he just so happened to also be a 'Holt'.

"You mean my dad?" Holt interjected with disbelief. That explained the fact that they had the same last name, at least. "Yeah, don't worry, it'll just be us. Me and Shiro... Oh, and you too," he chuckled as he added that on, purposely echoing the way Keith had said it earlier.

"Alright, I get it. Should I get ready?" Keith grumbled.

"Actually, we're not quite ready yet," Shiro spoke up. "I was pretty sure you'd say no, so we haven't, uh, gotten prepared."

"Yeah," Holt agreed, "now we have to actually go find the weed and liquor."

"What?" Keith asked blankly.

"Matt!" Shiro huffed quietly, "Keep your voice down. Keith, you don't mind, do you?"

"If it's going to be around me, I want some," Keith said, his level stare daring them to decline.

"I like his moxie," Holt pointed out with a laugh.

"I've changed my mind," Shiro suddenly announced. They both turned to him in disappointment, "I told you this was a bad idea. Let's go see if we can apply for leave between now and then instead, like we planned."

"Yeah, because you weren't getting hammered on the weekends as a sophomore, with graduates, on grounds nonetheless, to avoid failing the drug test they'd obviously give you after a leave," Holt said sarcastically. Keith blinked, apparently they had been friends for quite a while, and Shiro hadn't always been so straight-laced.

The retort seemed to crack through Shiro's resolve a bit, though. Keith knew he could manage the final push. "I know not to overdo it. I just want to have a good time too," he assured them.

"Okay," Shiro finally relented, nodding.

"Yes! Besides, we could still apply for that leave tomorrow," Holt said excitedly as he tugged Shiro away, presumably to 'prepare.' Keith could finally get into his room, but now it brought him no relief. He had to get ready. He was going to sneak out, with Shiro (and his weird friend Matt Holt,) to drink. He rubbed his face as he tried to collect his thoughts into a manageable to-do list.

First, he needed to shower, which he did swiftly. The whole while he was worried they'd show up, find him MIA, and head on out without him. Once he got back, he started to look through his closet for something to wear.

He barely had any of his civilian clothing left, and the only things that would probably still fit were a tanktop and a red windbreaker. He'd just have to wear his uniform pants and hope they weren't too identifiable on their own. Man, they could all get into so much trouble for this if they got caught.

As he changed, he swapped his knife from the normal Garrison jacket to his red one. He never went anywhere without it now.

It took them at least half an hour to show up, until there was a quick rap at the door. Before Keith could go to answer it, they opened the door and slipped inside, along with a large antique chest on wheels. Keith stared at it, and then at their expressions. They weren't planning on...

Matt opened the chest and Shiro reached in to lift out a heavy wooden chess table that just barely fit inside. "Get in, loser," Matt said, motioning to the space in between the legs of the table.

"You're fucking with me," Keith blurted out.

"I know, Keith, but you know they won't give you leave without a good reason. They still think you're a flight risk," Shiro said apologetically.

"Even after the driving lessons? Besides, where would I go?" Keith asked bitterly. Shiro just nodded in understanding as their eyes met. They'd had this conversation before, and Shiro had even officially appealed to have the status lifted, though it'd been denied.

"So, you coming?" Matt butt into whatever moment they were having. Keith gathered his nerves and started to hoist himself over the edge. He'd be stuck until they let him out, most likely. As he settled in, knees pulled up to his chest, Matt told him, "Hey, try not to jostle the little box for the pieces. They are real antique elephant ivory."

The last thing he heard as the table settled in around him, and then the lid over top, was Shiro retorting conversationally with, "Really? Those have been technically extinct for decades now. Isn't it illegal to have those?"

The wood muffled Matt's response as they started to move out. After that was relative silence. Luckily, Keith had never been horribly claustrophobic, though this was still a suffocatingly small space that he couldn't wait to get out of. He also wished the chest was new enough to have some sort of shock absorption, as each grout in the tile they traveled over would cause the table just above his head to shift slightly.

There was a pause, and an exchange of voices, including one that Keith couldn't recognize. The lid opened and Keith went completely still, not even daring to breathe.

"I swear, this is the last of it," Matt was saying, "my mom just really wants the family chessboard back before Dad and I blast off. It's an antique heirloom." He sounded like the same chipper, slightly awkward dude he normally did, even as he babbled on expressedly as a distraction, rather than just because he wanted to.

The guard seemed either disinterested or tired, if the way he just grumbled and let the lid fall back into place was any indication. Even through the layers of wood, Keith could hear Matt's initial exclamation of, "Hey, watch it!" before he briefly lectured the guard at a more inaudible volume. Probably about how old it was again, Keith could already figure.

They then started to move again. The pavement was even worse than the tile in terms of the shaking, jostling Keith hard enough that keeping his teeth from clattering together was an actual thing he had to do. He felt a small box brush against his hand and picked it up, figuring that it was the chess pieces Matt had asked him to be careful with.

The next time they stopped, the lid opened up immediately. "We're gonna put this in the back of the van now, alright?" Shiro informed him.

"Yeah," Keith affirmed. "I have the box your friend was talking about."

"Be careful with it!" Matt reminded him just as the lid was closed. They had to work together to hoist the chest up into the back of the van. After it had been settled in, Keith heard the van's back doors slam shut, and then two of the front doors opened, one after the other.

The van, the little box he'd been sequestered away in, the fact that he suddenly realized that he didn't know where they were going as the vehicle revved to life and started to rise. Keith knew that he should have been freaking out when he thought about how much this seemed like the typical start to a kidnapping, but he didn't feel afraid at all.

If anything, he was impatient for the real beginning to this. He knew full well why, because if it'd just been Matt, he'd be terrified right now. But Matt was with Shiro, and Keith knew that Shiro had no ulterior motives in doing this. No matter how much Keith was wishing otherwise.

There was talking again, just between the two of them. Shiro's voice sounded closer, like he was in one of the back seats. He then heard some clicking, before the lid swung open one more time. "Which way are you facing?" Shiro was asking.

"And do you still have the pieces?" Matt called out as well.

"I'm pretty sure I'm still facing the front," Keith answered, "and I still have the box. Why?"

"I'm gonna tip you back and slide out the table so you can climb free," Shiro notified him, and then the chest started to slowly tip back. Keith leaned back into it, the small box held protectively to his chest.

"Be, careful," Matt reminded them through gritted teeth as he continued driving. The box settled onto it's back, and as Shiro had promised, he reached in and slid the table out from around Keith. As soon as more light spilled in, Keith was starting to unfold, having left the small box safely laid along a corner. When his head cleared the chest's edge, he saw that the clicking earlier had been Shiro putting down the back of the seat next to him, so that Keith would have an easier time wiggling out from between the legs of the table and then clamboring into the back seat. He nearly fell into Shiro's lap in his haste to get free.

"There we go," Shiro said to Keith, who had immediately sat the other seat back up so he could sit by the window and watch the horizon. Shiro also leaned forward to tell Matt, "Your chess set is fine, by the way. I know how much it means to your family."

"I know," Matt responded, "it's just that I already gouged one of the legs, and I know I'm going to hear about that."

"I hadn't noticed," Shiro said with a shrug.

"My mom will," Matt assured him. Shiro just nodded, apparently already aware of this. They fell quiet, the conversation reaching a natural lull.

"So, uhm," Keith spoke up, and Shiro turned to him. "Where are we going?" he asked quietly, hating how small his voice felt like being right now.

"Well, I want to go to a bar, maybe even the club. You'd never manage to get in, though. Especially not in that get up," Matt said, playing with his rear view mirror to take another quick look before he readjusted it.

"What's wrong with how I'm dressed?" Keith asked defensively.

"You look like a poster on the Amber Alert board, man. That jacket doesn't even fit you," he responded, all honesty this time. "Luckily for you, Shiro doesn't like crowds, and has volunteered to babysit his little apprentice in lieu of an awesome night out scoring as legit astro-explorers."

"You and I both know you're going to call your girlfriend over as soon as you get there," Shiro pointed out.

"Naw," Matt quickly answered. He waited for the shocked expression on Shiro's face to really set in before he tacked on, "'cause I already called her! She'll probably be waiting for us at the hotel."

"Matt," Shiro said, suddenly serious, "you'd better not be planning on any funny business. Not with Keith here."

"Funny business?" Keith asked, though neither of them saw fit to answer.

"I figured you'd say something like that, so I asked her to set up a second room for us, last minute," Matt said, sounding downright smug about his forethought. Keith had a funny feeling that Matt was assuming there was more to his relationship with Shiro than there really was.

They fell to silence again, Keith watching out the window as desert gave way to suburbs that faded into the actual city. The hotel they pulled up in front of was one that had always left an impression on Keith's mind, though he'd never been inside. He knew from watching the entrance, though, that at least a notable percentage of the guests came and left in flashy luxury vehicles, sometimes even trailed by paparazzi or body guards.

"We're staying here?" he asked as they pulled up to the front, pressing against the window to stare up at the top of the massive building. Shiro smiled at the obvious excitement that Keith was openly displaying. Another night spent chaperoning Matt at the club while trying to ignore any advances made his way sounded like far less of a good time than finding out how gratefully Keith reacted to something as relatively mundane as a nice hotel.

Valets came to gather their belongings, once they confirmed their identities. One of them did ask about Keith, but his worry turned to elation when Shiro swiftly responded with, "Oh, he's my little brother, Keith." They were led to the elevator, where Matt discovered that he would be on a lower floor.

As the elevator stopped, Matt turned to them and told Shiro, "Text me if you need something, but try not to have any major emergencies. You know how it is, can't hear nothing over the music," the valet holding the elevator coughed, and Matt quickly excused himself for real as they stepped out.

"I doubt it will be an issue," the valet explained, "but I have to inform you that we accidentally overbooked your previous room."

"Uh-huh?" Shiro prompted, warily.

"So you've been upgraded to a Presidential Suite, free of charge," he said cheerfully after an overly-long dramatic beat. Shiro sighed in relief, while Keith outright bounced off his heels, looking every part the excitable little brother.

They had to ride the elevator to the very top, and as it slid open Keith immediately noticed that this floor's doors were spaced further apart than the lower floor that Matt was on. "Room P9, right this way sirs," the valet said as he led them down the hall. When they got there, Shiro unlocked the door and tried to offer to take the bags in, though the hotel worker politely rebuffed him with, "Just doing my job, sir," as he went in ahead to set the single backpack onto the table.

"Please make yourselves comfortable, don't hesitate to call the front desk if you need anything," the valet bid them as he exited.

Shiro seemed just as shocked at just how stately the suite was. There was a large front room, with a table and kitchenette nearer to the front door, while a modular sofa was facing a massive TV that took up the wall on the other end, perpendicular to massive windows that overlooked the city skyline. There were two doorways, one open one that led to a seperate bedroom, and one with an actual door that led to an opulent bathroom with a step-in jacuzzi bathtub and shower. Another closed door provided a way to the bathroom from the bedroom, rather than the front room.

"This is amazing," Keith said as he wandered around. "Look, there's even a plaque listing all the famous people who've stayed in this exact room," he pointed out, and Shiro walked up behind him to peer at it too.

"Oh, wow," Shiro said, even though he only recognized a few names.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out, though?" Keith asked, turning to find out just how closely Shiro had been hovering over him. He gulped as he was forced to tilt his head up to look Shiro in the eye. "Like Matt said, I can't go anywhere fun at this time of night."

"And like Matt said, I don't like the bar scene. I'd rather have a reason to stay in this suite and get drunk by myself," he admitted as he went over to his backpack, starting to pull things out. He'd brought a game console and at least two controllers, along with a glass bottle that had been wrapped up protectively in one of his hoodies. There was another bottle of soda, but since it was plastic it didn't need protection.

"Not by yourself," Keith reminded him. "You promised."

"Actually, I didn't," Shiro countered. Keith scowled, but then Shiro shrugged and said, "I did imply it though. Go get us some cups. Four of them, fill two with water."

"Water?" Keith questioned, even as he went to unwrap some of the complimentary plastic cups.

"I don't want to have to explain a hangover, so we're going to be drinking water, too. If we're lucky, Matt will wipe himself out, sleep in, and decide to just take the brunt of the blame," he chuckled as he sat at the table. Keith came back with the cups, as requested, and sat down as well.

"I didn't know if you knew what you liked, so I just got what I liked," he said as he unwrapped the hoodie. Keith was familar with the specific brand of whiskey. Not from personal experience, exactly, but because the sight of the label made him nostalgic for his father, as did the smell that issued from it as he untwisted the top.

"I don't mind," Keith assured agreeably. He was just happy to be allowed to have some, regardless of what it may have turned out to be. "Whiskey, right?" he ventured the educated guess.

Shiro hummed a sound of approval as he poured first the cola, then the liquor. Keith scowled as he noticed how unevenly the drinks had been mixed. "Yours is half-half. Mine is just a quarter whiskey," he pointed out.

"Yep," Shiro agreed, and then slid Keith's drink to him. "If you want more, you'll have to finish the first one, then wait for 10 minutes."

Keith rolled his eyes, then tried his drink. Despite all the soda, he could still taste a sour burn that made him grimace. After only a sip, he put it back down and cleared his throat. In that time, Shiro had tipped back his whole drink in two consecutive gulps.

"You better wait 10 minutes too," Keith muttered, "I don't wanna end up taking care of you tonight."

"You wouldn't?" Shiro suddenly asked, watching him carefully. Keith paused to reconsider.

"I would," he answered, swirling his drink and looking into it, "but I don't want to."

"I was just teasing you," Shiro said with a little smile as he sipped at the water now. In the interest of fairness, though, he not only waited out his whole 10 minutes, but held out until Keith had finished his drinks and waited before even pouring out more.

This time, Shiro used even less soda for his drink. "Did you want me to mix yours heavier?" he asked, bottle lip hovering over Keith's cup.

"A little, but not like yours..." Keith sighed and held out his hands for the soda. "Let me just show you." Once Shiro handed it over, Keith poured out an amount that could be best estimated as two-thirds, then set the soda aside.

"Hey," Shiro said as he topped off Keith's cup, "I brought my game system, should we hook it up?" Keith nodded, went to stand, and swayed a bit. Shiro's arm instinctively shot out to brace him. "Yeah, the first time getting up usually does that. You... you've never drank before, have you?"

"I'm fine," Keith didn't mean for it to come out like a snap, but it did. He decided against turning back around to grab his drink, though. After drinking down his glass rapidly again, Shiro stood up as well, looking about as composed. He caught himself a little more quickly and went over to his backpack.

Keith watched him, then moved over to the couch and plopped down into it. He tried to relax, but just ended up fidgeting instead. "How come you just want to stay in the hotel room? It's not even like you knew it was going to be such a good one."

"I just like to get drunk n' play games loudly. Don't like going out like Matt does," Shiro said, slurring a bit. That put Keith at ease, loosened his tongue a bit.

"What his deal, anyway?" Keith asked. Shiro pulled out a boxy console and a mass of cords and moved them over to the coffee table. He was giving Keith a strange look.

"What do you mean? He's a little, ah, boisterous, but he's a good guy. Smart, too. There's a reason he's gonna be our engineer," he explained as he fought to untangle the cords.

Keith nodded, "Yeah, about that..." he fidgetted a bit before asking more quietly, "when are you leaving?"

"Don't worry. It won't be for another six months, at least," Shiro said, with a fond smile. That worried Keith more. If he left soon, it would hurt, but Keith could see himself getting over it with time. The thought that he would be here, on Earth, worming his way deeper into Keith's heart for half a year or more, only then to leave on a dangerous mission to unexplored territory?

Something showed up on Keith's face, because Shiro's smile fell as he asked, soothingly, "Keith? What's wrong?" Keith squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, refusing to answer. Shiro came over and sat next to him, grabbing his shoulder. "Hey, talk to me."

"I'm just scared!" Keith suddenly yelped, shrugging off Shiro's hand. "You're the first real friend I've had, since..." Since ever, Keith realized. Everybody else from his past was gone. Unable to admit that, Keith just let out a ragged, pained noise.

"Keith," Shiro breathed, and pulled him into a hug. Keith tensed at first, as usual, but began to relent as Shiro kept speaking, "I will be fine. I've went over the projected route dozens of times on the simulator. I've already been to space several-"

"Really?" Keith asked. Shiro looked down at him and only then released him from the hug, looking sheepish. Keith, however, didn't move away immediately. He just sat halfway on Shiro's lap, head pillowed against his chest as he blinked up at him, waiting for an answer-

"Oh," Shiro started out of distraction, then remembered what he'd been saying. "Yeah, of course. I've done some fly-bys on the gas giants, but-"

"That's so cool," Keith interrupted again. Unused to such open, honest praise, Shiro started to feel a bit flustered. Plus, Keith was still leaned up against him. He looked around for an excuse and saw that he'd never finished hooking up his game system.

"Get'up," Shiro mumbled, pushing. Feeling bold, Keith poked his tongue out playfully as he flopped back into his original seat. Shiro turned away, both to start plugging in cords and to hide the flush that was starting to deepen from more than just intoxication.

"Hey, Shiro," Keith practically drawled. When Shiro just responded with a grunt as he kneeled to make sure the controllers were connected, Keith continued, asking rather blatantly, "Wouldn't you rather'd bring your boyfriend?"

"Oh, heh." Shiro sounded more sarcastic than legitimately amused, "I didn't tell you yet, did I? Adam broke it off with me," he informed Keith. Keith sat up quickly, staring at him in shock.

"No way! Why!?" Keith asked, honestly shocked.

"Well, he made me choose between him and Kerberos..." Shiro sighed, wishing somewhat that they could change the subject. "I didn't want to give up either, but this is the chance of a lifetime, and I thought he'd be willing to-"

"Idiot," Keith grumbled loudly. At Shiro's concerned expression, he clarified, leaning back, "He's an idiot. It's his loss."

"Oh, and why would you say that?" Shiro asked as he sat back down, next to Keith but not quite as closely. Keith blushed and averted his gaze again, drawing another quiet sigh from Shiro.

"Look, Keith, I know about your little crush and I just - I don't mind, it's flattering even, but," his expression turned a little apologetic, "you're too young for me. You should find a guy closer to your-"

"Jeez, shut up," Keith tried to stand, but Shiro immediately grabbed for his shoulder. "You don't think I haven't been trying that? Everybody my age is stupid," he argued. "That's not what I want." If he wouldn't let Keith get away, then there was only one way to go (staying still hadn't been an option.) He leaned up and pushed himself back into Shiro's personal space, but with intent rather than charm. He tensed as he planted his lips over Shiro's, expecting to get pushed away or worse.

Tensing as well, Shiro froze for a while. He knew full well that he should be putting a stop to Keith's advances, but something made him hesitate to act. He simply pulled away to collect his thoughts, looking conflicted. He'd legitimately only meant for Keith to feel like he mattered, in deciding to bring him with, but somewhere along the way those innocent intentions had gotten just frayed enough for Keith's fiery passion to ignite them.

"I can't do this to you, Keith," Shiro reminded them both.

"Then I'll do this to you," Keith replied without a hint of hesitation, staring up at Shiro challengingly. Shiro felt his self-resolve visibly crumble. Keith's breath started to shallow when he put a hand on one of Shiro's thighs and the graduate just shivered in response.

When he tried to move it up, though, Shiro drew his legs closed, frowning. "Wait, not there, not yet," he hated the way his voice had went all breathy so quickly. He'd rarely done that, even with Adam.

"Fine," Keith said shortly. He knew that he was pushing, possibly too hard. Better to burn the bridge now, though. "You want me to show you that I want it, first. I get it." Keith reached down and clumsily undid the latch on his belt and the front of his pants. He pulled his cock out, unable to resist the temptation to give himself a few jerks.

Shiro couldn't help but look. He didn't want to enjoy the sight as much as he did. But his own cock was starting to throb as well, if only in sympathy. "Touch me," Keith asked, quietly.

"I-" Shiro started, but stopped, just giving Keith a pleading look. Keith searched his expression carefully for any hint of disgust before he fisted his hand into the hair on top of Shiro's head. Shiro let Keith guide his head down, willfully opened his mouth and let Keith buck in.

Keith whimpered when he started to lick and suck, working his lips further down the shaft. He'd never gone any further than messy kissing and awkward fondling with anybody else. To have his cock deep-throated by an experienced man made his eyes cross and his mouth drop open. Remembering how easily Shiro had overpowered him before, Keith tightened the hold in his hair and started to rock his hips, fucking into Shiro's face.

Shiro made a low sound around his dick and palmed at the bulge in his own pants. Fuck, but how many times had he begged for this from guys who claimed to understand and not gotten it? He actually gagged at first when Keith's relative inexperience made the moment short, the sudden spurts of cum taking him off guard. Keith just groaned and held him down harder, stirring his hips now.

Shiro forcibly sat up, coughing into one hand even as the other one was still being used to squeeze his own cock firmly. Keith panted and watched him as he stared at the drool and cum on his palm now. Shiro finally pulled open his pants, his cock tenting the underwear through as soon as his fly opened.

He'd actually wanted to touch Shiro, but Keith currently only had the energy to groan in approval when he saw that Shiro was using what he'd coughed up as lube to jack off with. "Does sucking cock really get you going like that?" he asked breathlessly.

Shiro didn't answer, just tipped his head back and started stroking faster, his back arching out as he edged himself closer. "I want way more," Keith said, "but for now I just wanna see you like this, Shiro."

Shiro bit back a growl, and then he let out a particularly harsh exhale as all of the tension building in his body rushed out at once. He covered himself with both hands to be sure to catch the mess, continuing to breathe heavily in the otherwise quiet room as he finished and then came down.

"Thank you," Keith quietly said once they were both mostly back to normal.

"We can't tell anybody this happened."

"Yeah, I know."

"It's not going to happen again."

"Sure," Keith said like he knew something else. Shiro just went quiet before passing out.

* * *

The next morning, Shiro woke up early without much issue. He still felt a bit rumdumb, having to take a long look at his surroundings to gather back memories of the night before. The game system sat cold on the coffee table, and the bottle on the dining table had been capped off.

He sat up, pushing off a blanket. Keith must have gotten up to close the bottle and cover up Shiro. He'd also drained the open glass that'd been left out. Hopefully down the drain, though that struck him as doubtful. Shiro got up and checked the bedroom of the suite. Sure enough, Keith was curled into a cocoon of covers and pillows, sleeping soundly.

Shiro watched him for a while, his mind turbulent. He hadn't drank near enough to forget what had happened. He should have been considering the most thorough way to sever ties with his young apprentice, but the thought made his heart reel. It'd probably hurt poor Keith even more if he did that now.

Besides, Shiro couldn't find it in himself to be disgusted by their actions. Nervousness and trepidation for their future together rang all throughout his psyche, but there was no hint of regret to be found. Keith had given him several opportunities to shut it down. It'd been Shiro who wasn't strong enough to stop when he'd heard the way Keith's voice had hitched.

Keith started to stir and rapidly awoke. He blinked his eyes open, grumbled, then caught sight of his mentor in the doorway. He hummed attentively, then called out, "Shiro?"

"Hey," Shiro answered so that he wouldn't come off as weird. "We still have time, but I really don't want to pay overstay on this," he motioned to the hotel room, "so I'm going to shower and pack up."

As Shiro first started to turn into the other door, Keith calmly stated, "Wait," while sitting up. Shiro paused, so he asked, "are you mad at me?"

"No," Shiro said, not looking at Keith. "We just need to go back to normal, though," he said, a little curtly. Keith nodded, though his own expression shifted to a faint frown when Shiro had fully turned away.

He stood as the door closed and locked behind Shiro, rubbing his face. 'I'm such an idiot,' he thought to himself. He felt a little fuzzy, but he hadn't actually drank all that much so it was bearable. He wandered out to the main room and glanced around. He checked his internal pocket for his knife and found it.

He hadn't really brought anything else. So Keith busied himself with packing Shiro's things. He carefully rolled up the cords from the console in such a way that they wouldn't tangle as badly. His father had taught him how. He also made sure the bottle was capped tightly, then cradled it back into the hoodie and set that inside too.

By the time Shiro came out, it looked as if they'd hardly been there. Keith had even put the blanket on the couch back onto the bed. "Ah, you grabbed it all already," Shiro remarked, "thanks."

"Eh," Keith shrugged his shoulders, looking to him from where he was sitting at the table. "I didn't really bring anything. By the way... how am I supposed to sneak back in?"

"Don't worry, I've got that covered," Shiro said with a wink.

* * *

They'd stopped by the Holt's house on the way back in order to actually drop off Matt's things. Keith was made to stay in the van, out of sight no less, until he and Shiro came back 20 minutes later.

Only then had Shiro explained that he was just going to escort Keith back with a made up excuse. Meanwhile, Matt would sneak into first Shiro's room, then his own.

"You guys are seriously just using the Chewy scheme again?" Matt was now asking in disbelief as he held the door open for Shiro and Keith.

Shiro shrugged, "It works."

"The what?" Keith asked.

"Remember that scene in Star Wars when-"

"No," Keith said shortly. He'd never watched Star Wars. Matt looked downright offended by that as it dawned on him. He pointed to Shiro.

"You need to rectify that! Let me know how the movie night goes," he gave them both a teasing smirk, but obviously was caught off guard when they both bristled at the insinuation.

Keith just averted his gaze adruptly and flushed a bit, but Shiro narrowed his eyes in an unmistakably unamused way. Matt returned his mean stare with one that was more concerned.

"Okay, anyway, we need to get going," Matt mumbled as he turned away, already carrying Shiro's backpack. Shiro relaxed and went in the other direction, Keith following along behind.

It was early, Keith realized. Early enough that a majority weren't up yet. Those that were seemed to be busy enough that they didn't care about a cadet that was clearly already following an officer.

Only Commander Iverson, curious, stopped them to ask. Shiro gave him a half-baked excuse about a 'long cram session.' Keith almost cracked a smile that would have been inappropriate when he heard that.

It stung a little, when Shiro didn't go for a hug as usual when they reached his dorm room door. He just clapped Keith on the shoulder in what was clearly a platonic fashion and shot him a guarded smile as he bid his goodbye.

Keith shook it off, though, as he got ready for the day.


	3. Chapter 3

Eventually, things went back to mostly normal, though Keith noted a sharp decline in Shiro-initiated hugs. Instead, he'd started touching his shoulder more. Still, they were hanging out more often than not again, months later.

Despite his best intentions to keep a professional distance, Shiro felt himself ease into being Keith's confidant once more. He even opened up himself, lamenting in Keith's room one day about how Adam simply wouldn't talk to him, but also wouldn't completely move out, returning to sleep each night on the couch.

"I don't expect you to be able to help," Shiro was saying, "I just needed to talk about it." He had started out sitting at the edge of the other bed, but was now starting to lean back.

"Yeah," Keith said, though he was thinking. "Do you think they could- you could stay here? I really don't wanna new roommate."

"No," Shiro replied quickly. "I could move, though. Not right now, but when I come back I think I'll buy a place close to the Garrison, somewhere in between here and the city."

"By the time you get back, I'll have graduated..." Keith mentioned. He'd been meaning to bring it up, ever since he'd figured it out.

"That's right, isn't it?" Shiro nodded. "Hey, isn't your birthday soon, as well?"

"Yeah, but it's whatever," Keith said, shrugging his shoulders. His Dad had always made a big deal of it, but ever since then it'd been at best celebrated half-heartedly by a bunch of other peers who disliked him otherwise.

"Hm, what would you want?" Shiro asked. Keith looked at the way his mentor was reclining along the other bed across from him, dared to stare at a bit of his collar that had gotten uncovered as he got comfortable.

"You'd get mad if I told you what I want," Keith mumbled quietly. Shiro gave him a guarded glance.

"Why?" he asked, even though he knew he was walking into the trap.

"You said it wouldn't happen again," Keith said cryptically. Shiro immediately knew what he was referring to, and his breath hitched. "That's all I can think about, though."

Shiro didn't know what to call the swirl of emotions in his stomach. He started to sit up, but Keith gave him a sharp look and demanded, "Stay."

"Keith, you're a cadet-"

"I won't be once you get back. I-I'll wait for you. Please, Shiro."

Shiro didn't want that to make him consider it, but he found himself thinking about how he still couldn't dislike what had happened before. He swallowed thickly, and then realized Keith was suddenly kneeling on the bed beside him.

"I still won't touch you there, but I- can I-?" Keith started to stammer, unable to ask for what he wanted.

"...alright, but if I tell you to slow down or stop, listen," Shiro finally gave in. Keith blinked, like he couldn't believe it, then started to smirk.

Shiro went still as Keith more or less mounted his thigh. He considered calling foul on the way Keith's thigh brushed against his bulge, but he was already letting the cadet dryhump his leg.

"Yeah," Keith breathed, "I could cum like this," he said, then bit his lip and went quiet, except for the heavy set of his breath as he rocked his hips.

Shiro couldn't help but watch as Keith's blush darkened and he started biting his entire lower lip as he let himself go. His eyes fluttered back open, and he opened his mouth to pant roughly. There was something strange about Keith's eyes, but Shiro discounted it as a trick of the light.

Suddenly, Keith lifted onto his knees, off of Shiro's thigh, and held his breath. "What's wrong?" Shiro asked.

"Don't wanna finish just yet," Keith grit out, "it'd be a lot funner if you'd actually let me ride you."

"Wha- hurry up!" Shiro told him, grabbing onto his hips and pulling him back down as he started to shift his thigh so that it remained a moving pressure against Keith's helplessly rocking hips.

Keith's eyes started to roll back and he let out a gruff groan of satisfaction. Shiro felt warmth spreading out, soaking through Keith's pants. He inadvertently let out a thready little noise of his own. Still breathing heavily, Keith flopped to the bed beside him. It was a tight fit, but he just barely managed to stay on the edge.

"Y-you sure you don't want me to...?" Keith made a jerking motion with his hand. Shiro shook his head.

"I'm fine, Keith."

"That was so fucking hot," Keith told him like he couldn't help himself. Shiro thumped his head back and groaned, trying to will himself soft.

"I think I should go," Shiro mumbled, sitting up. Keith sat up at well but didn't move to stop him. He just watched Shiro get up and readjust his uniform, smoothing his hand over his thigh where it was still warm.

"I'll see you?" Keith asked. Shiro gathered his nerves, then turned and leaned in to kiss Keith, at first taking him off guard with the open gesture. By the time they'd parted, though, they'd both started to participate, leaving one another breathless.

At the surprised look Keith still had, though, Shiro said, "Let's just play it cool until you graduate though. Remember-"

"Patience yields focus?" Keith teased.

"-yeah, sure," Shiro chuckled. He then smoothed his hands over Keith's uniform, wrinkling his nose at the obvious way it was frumpled. "Go get cleaned up after I go, I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

It was Shiro's last night on Earth, quite literally. Keith knew he should have been hanging out with the guy. At the very least, he should have been on Garrison grounds. Shiro's bike was parked outside of his old home in the desert as he sulked inside, sitting on the edge of his own bed.

They hadn't really had any further 'moments' in a while - between Shiro's training and Keith's recent promotion to a junior, there wasn't time for much more than the occasional meetups in the cafeteria to discuss coursework. Shiro and Adam had remained an on and off couple, and for some reason Shiro thought it'd be a good idea to introduce them formally.

Needless to say it hadn't gone over well. They hadn't openly engaged one another at first, but there'd been a palpable tension in the air as they silently sized up the other. Shiro had tried to keep the peace by attending to both in equal measure.

Matt, feeling like the odd one out, had started talking to Adam about his last outing - apparently he and his girlfriend had quite the time. In response, Adam asked, "...and where was Shiro all this time?"

Keith sat up and Shiro shot Matt a desperate look, but to no avail as Matt wasn't looking at him. "Oh, he stayed behind in his room with Keith-"

"With Keith?" Adam echoed expectantly, an eyebrow raising.

"We brought Keith along," Matt said, like it wasn't a big deal.

Adam turned his calculating gaze to Shiro. "You said it was just you and Matt," he stated. Keith saw the way Shiro flinched at that.

"It's not like it's a big deal, right?" Shiro asked. Adam's stare hardened. Shiro just sighed and suddenly got an exasperated look as he pointedly glanced away. "It's going to be a big deal."

"You should calm down," Keith suddenly spoke up. All three of them looked to him with varying degrees of surprise. At Adam's incredulous glare, Keith just stirred his fork around and muttered, "I'm not even like that."

"Like what?" Adam asked quickly.

"You know, gay. We played video games. He's just my mentor. Don't make that weird," Keith clarified, lying outright. The look of relief on Shiro's face was worth it, though.

"We're still going to talk about why you lied to me," Adam promised as he somewhat suddenly decided he was done and stood up, taking his tray with him to dispose of it. Shiro sighed again, louder.

"Dude, why _did_ you lie?" Matt asked once Adam was certainly out of earshot. Shiro grimaced.

"I knew he'd react like that. He's been weird about other guys lately, since we've been fighting over Kerberos," Shiro quietly mumbled, as if it'd been going on for a while and he was more tired than angry about it at this point. Matt just sighed at that.

Keith stirred his food more and frowned as he blatantly thought, 'He's an asshole, he doesn't deserve you.'

"Keith," Shiro reprimanded him quickly, and Keith startled as he realized he'd said that out loud. Matt, too, looked surprised. Then he laughed.

"So I'm not the only one who thinks that!" he crowed. Shiro scoffed, but Keith could see the thoughtful look he got, like he was suddenly starting to consider it himself.

They engaged in small talk after that, nobody bringing up the fact that the air of tension had left once Adam did. Once they were finished, Matt bid them farewell, but as Keith made to turn away Shiro stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

"Thanks for that. I'm sorry Adam got weird, he insisted on meeting you. I think he was already suspecting something," Shiro explained, looking nervous.

Keith shrugged. "He wouldn't have anything to worry about if he didn't make you miserable," he pointed out.

Shiro shook his head. "He doesn't make me miserable, he just worries too much."

Keith huffed in disbelief, "It's sounded to me like he wants to control you, and you won't let him," he argued. Shiro groaned and put a hand to his face, he didn't want to admit what was being said yet had no logical argument against Keith's observation.

"I just don't want to deal with this until after Kerberos," Shiro finally admitted. "If that makes me selfish, then-"

"That's not selfish! It's selfish of him to make your mission about his feelings," Keith said loudly, and Shiro glared at a student that'd turned to look.

"Listen, Keith. I think I know what you're getting at, and, Adam and I aren't getting back together. Even if he comes crawling back to me afterwards - as usual," Shiro rolled his eyes as he said that, venting his irritation, "I don't want to keep doing this dance everytime I want to do something that doesn't involve him."

"Okay," Keith said.

"I'm sick of him always reminding me that I'm dying," Shiro muttered. Keith's eyes widened. The subject of Shiro's illness wasn't a mystery to him, though he preferred not to dwell on it. Unlike Adam, it seemed. "All he cares about is my medication, my check ups... he made me fill out a will," Shiro scoffed. Keith grimaced.

"What? Really?" Keith asked quietly. Shiro's shoulders sagged at the honest concern in the younger man's voice.

"I shouldn't be bothering you with this," Shiro suddenly announced. Keith gave him a look like he didn't mind, but wasn't going to press the issue.

They'd parted ways after that, and Keith hadn't seen Adam since then. Shiro seemed more and more stressed as the launch date drew closer, though he steadfastly refused to burden Keith with the specifics.

That's ultimately what had led to Keith outright running off on the night before launch. If Shiro didn't trust him with his problems, then Keith wouldn't trust him back. Wouldn't bother promising himself to Shiro on the night before launch, knowing he'd be likely to graduate before the man's return. The funniest part was how easy it'd been to just sneak out, despite his undeserved reputation as a flight risk. Shiro had given him the keys to the hoverbike along with the rest of Keith's birthday presents, making him swear to take care of it for him while he was busy.

Keith was pulled out of his bittersweet reminiscence by the rumble of an engine that was incoming, and fast. Keith stood and drew the curtain aside, just enough to peek out. The headlights were pointed right toward the window. As it rolled to a stop outside, Keith recognized the plates on the front bumper.

"Shiro..." he muttered, snapping the curtain back closed. He had half a mind to go lock the door, but by the time he'd reached the knob he was dodging it as Shiro barged on in. One look at him told Keith that rebuffing him could be a bad move. He was drunk enough to smell like it, and undeniably upset.

"I thought I'd find you here," Shiro grumbled when he saw Keith. "You... why are you doing this to me? You n' Adam both..." Shiro snarled meanly enough that Keith took a step back. "You both wanna just ditch me, just cuz I wanna keep living while I can-"

"Did you drive yourself here?" Keith asked. He didn't hear the engine running any longer, and no lights were shining through his window. Shiro was swaying, and the direction he'd come in from hadn't been along the one dusty road leading out here that Keith had showed him.

"Shouldn't be givin' me a reason to drive after you." Shiro said, still in that weird tone that Keith didn't like. "Come on, we're going back," but this time when Shiro reached for his arm, Keith pulled away.

"I don't wanna," Keith said as he kept out of Shiro's reach, "you're too drunk to drive, and I'm not sure if I should take you back like this."

"You're going to get into trouble," Shiro slurred.

" _You're_ going to get into trouble," Keith retorted, "you'll be going to space with a hangover, and then you wonder why people who care worry about you!" he snapped as it occured to him. That seemed to break through to Shiro though. He stood up straight, gasping softly under his breath.

"You're not mad about Kerberos," Shiro said as if it'd just truly occurred to him.

"What? No. I want you to do that," Keith explained as if he was the older one, "I just... you were barely talking to me," he said quietly, his voice getting just a bit petulant.

"Keith, baby," Shiro breathed. Even if his tongue was only loose from the liquor, the pet name still put a blush on Keith's face. "I didn't realize, I was busy with preparing for the mission, and all of Adam's shit..."

"Fuck Adam," Keith said before he realized it once more. This time, though, Shiro just smiled like he was in on the joke. With the situation slightly defused, Keith finally got around to asking, "Why did you come here?"

"You weren't in your room, and your new roommate didn't know where you'd gone," Shiro responded.

"Why were you trying to see me?" Keith asked more directly.

"He was following me everywhere else," Shiro muttered. Keith already figured out that the statement was about Adam, even before Shiro added on, "You're not the only guy he thought I was interested in. You're just the only one he's right about," and stepped closer again.

Keith considered it. A dark voice in the back of his head told him it'd be easy, he wouldn't have to wait a year to be intimate with Shiro if he took advantage of his intoxicated opening now. Another, bigger part of his brain recoiled at the idea. "You're drunk," Keith repeated once more, cautiously.

"I'll let you touch me this time," Shiro offered, and this time when Keith went warm it wasn't just his face. He was only human, afterall. Shiro saw the moment Keith gave in and smirked, going around him to sit on the other bed.

"Not there, that's-" he didn't have to say it. With a sheepish smile, Shiro moved over to Keith's bed. Keith pulled off his jacket. At the cue, Shiro began to strip as well, his smile only growing when he saw the way Keith's expression turned to desire once he'd pulled off his undershirt. Keith was keeping up, pulling off his t-shirt and dropping his hands to his fly as Shiro did.

"Have I ever told you," Shiro said as he shucked off his pants and underwear, "that I love the way you look at me like that."

"Like what?" Keith asked, positively staring at him now. Shiro spread his legs, showing off his thickening erection.

"Like I already belong to you," Shiro panted as Keith stepped in between his legs, letting his own shorts and underwear pool to the ground around his ankles.

"Do you?" Keith asked, feeling bold as he pushed Shiro to lean back and then straddled him. Shiro didn't answer yet, but his lips parted prettily and he made a sweet little noise as Keith shifted so that their cocks were brushing against one another.

He reached between their bodies and held them both loosely in one hand as he started to rut shallowly. Shiro moaned beneath him, bucking slightly. It wasn't long before they'd both gotten wet enough to provide an easier glide. When Keith dug his knees into the mattress and started to snap his hips with more force, he was rewarded with a long groan and a sinuous roll of the hips from Shiro.

"You're so _big_ , Shiro," Keith praised as he was rocked by the strength behind Shiro's writhing, "and next time we do this, we're gonna put that fact to use." Keith promised, grinning.

Shiro was tossing his head, biting his lip and making little noises as his body shook. Keith was quivering too, trying valiantly to hold out long enough to see Shiro lose it as well. He started to stroke in such a way that he was mostly touching Shiro. It seemed to have the intended effect, because Shiro arched with enough force to lift Keith off his knees as well and started to tremble like he was close, huffing.

"Yess, please cum for me," Keith outright begged, his voice pitched, and that did it for Shiro. He cried out and his hips dropped back to the bed as his dick spurted. Keith took one awe-filled look at the sight and then he squeezed his eyes shut and keened just as loudly as his orgasm hit. Keith kept circling his hips until it was too sensitive to keep going, then slowed to a stop, panting.

There wasn't any regret in Shiro's expression this time as he was also catching his breath, even though he'd crossed one of his own spurious boundaries. Eventually, though, he put his hands to Keith's waist and nudged him to roll off, onto the bed. They stayed like that for a while, staring at the ceiling.

"You need to graduate in time," Shiro suddenly brought up. Keith huffed a little laugh.

"I have enough incentive to," Keith agreed. He grinned up at the roof. If he graduated when he was supposed to, there wouldn't be any actual regulations against their relationship by the time Shiro's crew was projected to return. Things would be fine, then, even if anybody had their own personal qualms.

"You should shower, then I'll drive us back," Keith suggested after thinking about how they'd get out of this current situation.

"You will, now?" Shiro asked somewhat sarcastically. Keith rolled his eyes.

"You smell like whiskey. No offense, but right now I trust my driving more," Keith neglected to mention the heady scent of sex that had also been added to the mix, though he considered it when Shiro wasn't immediately convinced.

"Alright," Shiro finally gave in. He stood, then asked, "Is the water going to be cold?" since the house and its' outdoor shower hadn't been used in a while.

"Shouldn't be," Keith said as he sat up, entranced by the view of Shiro walking to his door naked. "I started the water heater when I got here, but didn't get around to using it."

"There's nobody else for miles," Shiro muttered, mostly to himself as he brazenly opened the front door and went to go shower around the side. That part didn't entirely strike Keith as strange - he'd done that himself once or twice, when he hadn't felt like bringing sand into the house or getting dressed in the morning.

Keith looked through Shiro's pockets after getting dressed, a bit concerned when he found absolutely nothing, not even a wallet or phone. The keys he'd been actually looking for were probably still in the car. He didn't like the idea of Shiro driving around offroad and drunk, without even any money or identification if something did happen.

Now wasn't the time to bring it up. That could all wait until after the Kerberos mission. They'd have the time then to talk about how reckless and idiotic he could get. So he dropped the clothing in roughly the same spots he'd found them and waited for Shiro to finish showering.

Shiro came back, shivering from the brief, damp walk from the warm shower to back inside. He got dressed quickly and efficiently, wrinkling his nose when he recognized that his jacket smelled like the whiskey he'd spilled earlier that evening. "Told you," Keith said when he realized what the face was about.

"Let's switch before we get on the grounds, though. I need to be the one bringing you back," Shiro explained. Whether from the earlier exertion or the shower afterward, Shiro seemed a little more coherent now, so Keith would concede that much to him.

The keys were in the car after all. Keith started the short drive back, and once they were within view of the floodlights surrounding the perimeter of the Garrison they pulled off the highway and switched seats so that Shiro could finish pulling in. The guard was another one of Shiro's acquaintances, apparently well-known enough to have an inkling what was going on because when she saw Keith trailing behind Shiro she narrowed her eyes and said, in a berating tone, "You know, Shiro didn't have to go get you."

"I know," Keith snapped, glaring at her as she rolled her eyes and checked out of the conversation, not interested in snarking back with a junior.

"Come on Keith," Shiro spoke over both of them, and Keith was thankful for the opportunity to move on. Once they were halfway down the empty hallway beyond the door, Shiro said under his breath, "Don't worry, nobody else knows that you left grounds."

Keith did sigh in relief - he'd been half expecting to be led straight to Iverson's office, despite the late hour. Instead, they went to Keith's room. There were hardly any people out, even when they'd passed through one of the more popular rec rooms as a shortcut. The hallways in the pre-graduate dorm wing were completely empty.

Shiro pressed him against the door, crowding into his space and staring at him with an unreadable expression. Keith could smell the whiskey strongly again, but his heart still fluttered when Shiro ducked down briefly to kiss him. "Come to the launch tomorrow," he then requested.

"I will," Keith promised. Shiro nodded and pulled away from him, smiling now. Keith slipped into his room as his mentor headed out. His new roommate, luckily, was sleeping. He was turning out to be a better overall person than Alex, plus he didn't feel the need to explicitly try and befriend Keith. He acted more like they were just two guys assigned to the same room. Keith snuck into his bed and covered up, excited and nervous in equal measure about tomorrow.

* * *

Mid-morning, in the middle of class, Keith checked the time and adruptly left. He heard the professor yell after him, but he ignored it. He had time later to deal with the consequences - making it to the preparations was more important currently.

He made it quicker than he thought he would, and to his surprise there was a man who asked for his name, then checked a list, nodding when it all matched up. Still, he told Keith, "You're here too early, go wait over there or something," as he waved the boy to a row of empty seats nearby.

A few more people filed in. Keith thought he saw two girls, clearly a mother and daughter, who both looked like Matt Holt, but they showed up just as the guests were being let in so he didn't catch their names or get a good look. He also saw Adam at the door a moment after he went in, but stayed out of sight. Especially when he saw the man acting as a bouncer shake his head, which garnered a surprised yet haughty glare from Adam before he stormed off.

Oh well. Keith turned to the launch party, which it clearly was. Keith suddenly felt underdressed in his cadet uniform and out of place among the mostly older crowd. He scanned the crowd and saw a familar shock of black hair, weaving through the gaggle to move toward Shiro.

Shiro had been talking to one of the rocket's lead engineers, but as soon as Keith appeared he turned to greet him. "You made it. I wanted you to meet my mother, but unfortunately she couldn't make it. I promised her a picture of you, though. Come on," Shiro tilted his head to one of the back doors and led Keith through to the launch pad.

"Your mom?" Keith had asked, but quickly forgot about that as they stepped out. Instead he paused to stare at the immense size of not only the room, but the enormous ship that dominated the space. "Whoa," he gaped in awe, "is that what you're piloting?"

"Honestly, she mostly pilots herself," Shiro chuckled, as modest as always. There was a small platform that Sam and Matt had already been using to take commemorative photos of their family.

Keith just said in amazement and with all honesty, "Cool."

"Up here," Shiro said as he climbed onto the platform, Keith clamoring after him. Shiro then waved over one of the men preparing for the launch and requested, while handing over his phone, "Would you snap a quick picture of us?"

"Aw, who is this, your little brother?" the man asked, taking the phone and stepping back. Shiro just smiled and tugged Keith in closer, curling an arm around his shoulders. After a handful of pictures were taken, Shiro got his phone back and looked through the recent photos.

"Hm. Should I send this one or this one?" Shiro asked, showing Keith the two he was considering. Shiro's smile was just a bit brighter as he looked over at Keith in one of the pictures, so he pointed at the screen when that one was the one shown.

"Okay," Shiro agreed and took a moment to send it off to his mother. He then pocketed the phone and nodded toward the door they'd come in from. "Let's go back. I don't like these pre-launch functions... they're a bit high-class for my tastes."

"Yeah," Keith said as they returned to the party. "I feel weird, like I shouldn't be here. Everybody else is just so... fancy," Keith looked around at the well-dressed socialites that had showed up. Shiro just shrugged and grabbed a hor d'oeuvres, popping it into his mouth.

"You're here because I wanted you to be here. If it was up to me, the fatcats wouldn't be here... but Sam needs funding and they like watching launches," he said once he'd finished it.

"Shiro, you're not supposed to be eating!" Matt's voice carried over the low din of the crowd, and a few heads turned around to see the source.

"Whoops," Shiro laughed it off, pulling along Keith as he went to meet Matt halfway. "Where's your family?"

"Katie has a recital, so her and Mom had to leave early. Dad's double-checking everything, as usual. What about you? Your mom usually makes it to the pre-launch. I heard about the last-minute guest switch too. Adam's gonna be _pissed_ when he sees you again."

"I was under the impression that he'd refused to see me go," Shiro muttered dismissively. "Anyway, my mom had to stay home for this one. I'll make time to visit her once we get back. By then I'll know what exactly to tell her regarding Adam, too. Now he's worried that we're going to mess around during the mission."

Matt laughed loudly, drawing attention to himself again as he exclaimed, "No offense, but, hell no! I like girls, and you're," he motioned to Shiro's broad-shouldered, trim-waisted physique, visible even through his uniform, "very much not a girl."

"Point taken," Shiro had just finished saying as both his and Matt's phone alarms went off. "Time to go suit up," Shiro explained. He then turned to Keith and leaned down to pull him into a hug.

Under his breath, into the shell of Keith's ear so that only he could hear, Shiro whispered, "Wait for me. I'll be back soon." Keith felt butterflies in his stomach as he hugged back, nodding furiously against his shoulder and stamping down the desire to ask him to stay.

He could do this. Just like Shiro said, it'd only be a short while. He kept telling himself that as he was filed in with the other guests into the launch area and behind a blast-resistant barricade to watch. There was only a glimpse left of Shiro as he rode the elevator to the shuttle door, and even then he was just the tallest out of the three crew members in bulky, full-coverage spacesuits.

He knew there was next to no chance of something going wrong as they watched the thrusters engage and fire up, causing the very air around them to vibrate as it took off with immense power. Even so, he still decided to take a day off from all of his other classes to go sulk in his room until he fell asleep, fitfully enough that he didn't rouse until the next morning despite his early bedtime.


	4. Chapter 4

The first seven months were easy. There was a rapidly-fading, but steadily-going signal from the shuttle back to Earth. They'd stopped making use of it vocally by now, the signal almost too degraded for Morse code to be transmitted by the time they reached Pluto's fourth moon. At that point the reports died down, but Keith still wanted to stay updated as he worked through his studies.

There'd been a constant noise, one that Keith had managed to wrangle a ham radio into picking up, by piggy-backing off the Garrison relay pointed at it. (Okay, he hadn't done that, except by proxy as the smartest guy he knew of, a massive dude who just went by "Hunk," guided him through the modifications out of his own curiosity after spying the wreckage of an attempt Keith had initially made and inquiring into what he was doing.)

He'd kept it tuned and set to a low volume, convincing his roommate that the white noise would help him sleep. "Uh, okay dude," was all he'd gotten for a response, really, but it didn't come up again, even after the first time there was a brief message - just a simple 'Landing Success, Reporting All Good' once Keith asked in a more roundabout way about if they'd heard anything yet.

Late that next night, though, there was a rapid flurry of chimes that cut though as cleanly as possible, the pattern unmistakable. 'S-O-S, S-O-' and then the signal cut out, completely. The pervading silence settled deep into Keith's bones and lungs, as he laid there in the dark, wide awake now and staring upward, though not at the ceiling. His roommate just let out a soft, sleepy sigh like he was subconsciously glad to be rid of the noise and rolled over, snoring on obliviously.

He'd fallen asleep again at some point, waking up late enough that his roommate was gone for the day. Again, the first thing he noticed was the silence in the room. He'd grown used to the low crackle of his radio's rerouted and faraway signal. He grabbed it and turned the tuning dial, hoping that it'd just broken down in the night. There was an explanation for the pattern he'd heard before then, surely.

To his horror, when he turned the dial to the only station he knew of, an old favorite of his father's, a twangy yet sorrowful country song began to play very faintly. He shrieked and threw it down with more than enough force to bust it against the ground. He grit his teeth and stormed out of his room, heedless of the two boys who were in the hallway and staring at him, surely having heard his outburst.

He marched onto the first intersection to the dorms, where a screen was posted that was updated with recent news. Surely, there'd be an explanation there, the scientists would have gotten to the bottom of what had occurred by now. If anything, a minor issue could send Shiro and the others back sooner, right?

He slowed at he turned the corner. The screen had the information he needed, but not the information he wanted. There were photos of Shiro, Matt, and Dr. Holt, each in their spacesuit minus the helmet, with their lifespans marked from their birth years to the current year. "No," Keith said out loud, pausing as he stared at the text scrolling beneath. Two words jumped out at him: Pilot Error. "That's not true," he said in a small voice.

"Sucks, huh?" another guy commented lightly as he glanced to what Keith was looking at. When Keith whirled upon him, fire in his eyes, the sophomore threw up his arms and went, "Whoa, okay dude, sorry. Was that Takahashi guy your brother or something?"

Keith snarled and advanced, fists clenching. "His name," he said slowly, "is Shiro. Get the fuck out of my face before I knock you out."

Cowed, the younger student slinked away. Still shaking and with no other potential target for his rage, Keith decided to turn back to the screen and put his fist through it. He had just started to get the overglorified TV dislodged from the wall when several faculty members finally took notice over security cams and showed up to wrangle him into submission.

* * *

He sat numbly, staring off at nothing, as Shiro's eulogy was announced at the funeral. He didn't want to look at anything. The flowers were made of fabric, the coffin was empty, and the photos of Shiro were all stiff and awkward portraits taken at his various promotions and award acceptances throughout his 'tragically short, yet illustrious career here at the Garrison.'

He probably would have made it through the whole thing, sitting completely still and unmoving like that. He only came back to reality when a quiet, matronly voice asked from somewhere ahead of him, "Are you... Keith?" Whoever it was, she had a heavy Japanese accent.

Keith had barely looked when he saw her and immediately, his gut turning, realized who she must be. She had the same kind eyes as Shiro, but they seemed even softer due to how snowy white her hair was. She was in a wheelchair, the space having been left open for it.

"Yes, it's you. In the picture," she showed him her phone, and Keith held a hand over his mouth so she wouldn't have to see the way it turned downward in despair when he saw the photo that they had taken the day of the Kerberos launch.

She gave him an apologetic look and pulled the phone back again, looking at the photo for herself. "I like this one, his smile is real," she said softly, brushing her thumb over his face on the screen as if it would really feel like him.

Keith didn't want that observation to hurt so bad, if anything he should have been concerning himself with what she was going through. The moment Shiro's mother's attention turned fully away from him though, he slipped out, unable to handle it much longer after that.

* * *

"What would Shiro think? If he could see the way you're acting?" was what Iverson had said. It had gotten him punched. _That_ had gotten Keith kicked out, but not before he had the opportunity to learn he'd actually damaged the eye, possibly permanently. Served him right, in Keith's opinion.

It wasn't like they knew Shiro was dead. He was just.. lost. In space. It hadn't even been that long since they'd lost contact before they'd declared the whole crew KIA, just a few hours later. They probably still had some of the food they'd been planning to return on.

He curled into himself under the blanket as a desert breeze came through. He'd apparently visited here last time in just the nick of time - by the time he came back once more, some punks had rolled through, smashed out the windows, graffiti'd all over the walls and floors, and then left with anything of obvious value. If it wasn't a 'shack' before, it certainly was now.

He wanted to board up the damage, especially on cold and windy nights like these when the sand came in, but depression kept him pinned to his bed most of the time. He'd lost weight, not caring whether he ate or not on any given day. What would be the point, anyway?

As the sun rose, the glare of the sun also free to barge in through the open windowframe, Keith heard a scratching at the door. Furrowing his brows, he stumbled to his feet and went to go answer it, blanket draped loosely around his shoulders but not enough to hide the fact he was only in his underwear.

When he saw who, or rather what it was at the door, Keith was sure he'd lost it - grief had driven him mad. If that was the case, though, then why couldn't his hallucinations had delievered a fake Shiro? Even his Dad would be a more fitting candidate.

Kuro yipped and jumped up to put her paws on his shoulders, just as she always had. It was a bit of a reach for her now, so she settled for leaning on him, panting. This close, Keith could feel the blunt claws against his bare chest, smell the faint scent of rotting carrion on her breath, and see the flecks of grey around her muzzle that hinted at the age she would be now.

"Kuro?" he asked. Kuro's ears shot up when she was recognized, and her tail started to wag as she hopped back and wiggled around his feet. "You're still... alive? You've been alive?"

Kuro bounded away, and Keith stammered out for her to, "Wait up!" as he threw off his blanket and took off after her, praying that the dark shape would remain easy to find against the pinkish landscape. For some reason, as the absurdity of his situation settled in, Keith was reminded of how Alice had found Wonderland, chasing after the white rabbit.

She stopped, adruptly, after taking them nearly halfway to the mountains due south. She paced back and forth, almost like there was an invisible barrier. Keith looked off in each direction, but saw nothing of note for miles around. When he ventured not much further past Kuro's invisible line, though, he felt it.

There was something in the mountains. Something ancient and powerful, just as overwhelmingly terrifying as it was tempting. The energy reached out to him, but then seemed to reject him as it tried to connect deeper. If he was forced to put it to words, the being had, rather simply, told him something to the effect of 'Not you,' but with a side of 'not yet.'

Kuro's nervous whines as she waited had started to reach an alarming pitch, so Keith turned back and they made their way back to the house. Kuro refused to go inside, so Keith hoped that she'd just stick around as he went back inside. She wasn't anywhere to be seen when he checked a few hours later, but there was a dead roadrunner at the door, bearing clear bitemarks.

Keith took the hint and started eating regularly, if only so Kuro wouldn't bring back multilated corpses for him. With the newfound energy and nowhere to direct it, Keith started to try and wander closer to the base of those same mountains every few days. As he got closer, though, the energy pushed back harder, until it was so pervading that he got his own latent nervousness mixed up with whatever it was in his head trying to tell him that he was not the right one.

It - he wanted to call it a beast, wasn't outright hostile, though the way it crawled into his brain to ward him away seemed pretty unfriendly after a while of them playing this game. He'd describe it as icy, a bitter coldness that put a wall in the way of any further connection. So he'd slowly given up on that. Real or not, the voice in the mountains clearly didn't want _him_ , so it didn't matter in the end.

He fell into a depressive spell again, until one late afternoon a lone mail van pulled up. Keith passively watched through a slit in one of the now-boarded windows as the mail man knocked, looked around, then shrugged and dropped an envelope onto the doorstep.

As the mail man turned to head back to his truck, Kuro came barreling out from behind the corner of the house, barking up a storm as she chased him into the van, then continued to run after the vehicle as it drove away. Distantly, Keith realized that was the first human he'd seen since leaving the Garrison. Still, he just quietly listened until the van's engine had faded and Kuro had stopped making noise before he went out to check what had been left.

The letter was addressed to him specifically, and the sender was an agency for handling inheritance. Keith scowled, he was pretty sure all of his father's estates had been settled by now. Upon opening and scanning the contents, though, his heart sank. Shiro's will had him listed as a beneficiary. Apparently the guest list hadn't been the only last-minute change Shiro had made before launch.

Keith considered ripping up the paper, even though logically he knew that wouldn't undo anything. He scanned again, to see where and when the meeting was and, more importantly, what would happen when he skipped it. Instead, he saw a strange line about how they would be 'ready to provide transportation' at the given date and time.

"Ugh," he crumpled up the letter and threw it to the ground. He couldn't just not be home that whole day. It wasn't like he really had the money to go anywhere, and if he tried to head out to the city anyway he'd only be able to make it most of the way there on the gas he had left in Shiro's hoverbike.

He resigned himself to the fate as the date rapidly closed in. Time was starting to blur by for him by now, so it managed to still take him off guard when one day a car pulled up and two men came to the door to get him, a driver and another, more smartly dressed man who wouldn't take no for an answer, even when Kuro had appeared and started to glare and huff, waiting for the go-ahead from Keith.

Keith got dressed in what felt like the first time in a long time and then, clearly agitated, got into the backseat with the more talkative man. Keith steadfastly stared gloomily out the window as he chattered away about the specifics of Shiro's will. He noted that they weren't taking the route he was used to. Instead, the driver was following an inefficient, AI-generated route on his dash-mounted tablet that gave unnecessarily wide berths to each little plateau.

"You're aware that somebody's contested the will, right?" the man eventually asked. At that Keith turned and looked at him. "Do you know who... what's his name again," he checked some paperwork, "Adam Wa-"

"Adam?" Keith asked, a cold chill coming over him at the mere mention of that name. No, that was quite possibly the last person he wanted to deal with right now, especially over something like this. The man harhumphed, not expecting to be so blatantly interrupted. "I-I dont care. Let him have it, then. Take me back," Keith pleaded.

"Didn't you read the letter?" the man asked. At Keith's defiant scowl, he sighed and announced, "I'm Takashi Shirogane's lawyer, and right now that makes me your lawyer. He figured that Adam would find out about this either way while he was gone, and asked me, personally, to make sure you stayed on that will."

Keith started to shake at that. He hadn't really read the letter, more intent on pretending he never saw it to consider all the details he'd skimmed over. "I don't want to do this," he mumbled.

"I can tell he meant more to you than he did to Adam," the man then said, quietly. He sounded more honest now, less like an overplayed caricature and more like an actual person. "Kid, I've been in this business for a while. I know an opportunist when I meet one. If you let him have this, what would Shiro think?"

For some reason, instead of pissing him off, the way this unknown man who had once known Shiro said that seemed almost hopeful. Like if (when) he came back, he'd be able to find his money and other estates safely kept by Keith. His shaking started to quell, and he pulled himself together by the time they got to the meeting.

Luckily, he mostly just had to sit there - there were only a few questions directed at him, the first of which was where and how they had met.

"Through the Big Brother program at the Galaxy Garrison," Keith said. Officially speaking, that was the most that could be proven. They didn't seem to care about pressing him for details anyway.

"He's not even _in_ the Garrison anymore. He got _expelled_ ," Adam had hissed, before the executor snapped her eyes at him and he settled. Keith bristled, but barely managed to hold his tongue.

The next question that he specifically had to answer made him just as nervous. Had his 'relationship' with Shirogane ever been 'inappropriate,' specifically before he'd turned 18? A quick "No," seemed to suffice for most of the group, though Adam continued to stare suspiciously.

In the end, the executor determined that, since Shirogane had been sound of mind and acting in his own interests when making the changes to his will, the new one benefitting Keith would be upheld. Adam looked furious, but he and his lawyer left in silence.

"I hate to do this to you, kid, but now we gotta talk fees. I can show you what Takashi and I had agreed on..." the lawyer, who Keith now knew as Mr. Miller, had started to say as they offered him a ride to the bank.

"Whatever you guys had going on'll be fine, I don't care about the money," Keith sighed, feeling thoroughly drained. He went through the motions of depositing the new check into his old account and then paying the fee Shiro had agreed on, until finally Mr. Miller was willing to take him home and leave his life.

He resolved to never interact with another person again by the time his head hit his pillow. Someday, he'd have to go shopping for food, but maybe he could just get a tablet and then go back home to order things online. Hopefully Kuro could get used to mail men.

Within the coming month, though, those plans would change quite drastically. Unable to sleep on a certain night, that's when Keith would see the alien ship that came streaking in through and past the atmosphere, easily visible against the open desert sky as its trajectory brought it down just at the halfway point between here and the Garrison. The beast in the mountains would suddenly deign him worthy at the same time, reaching out to him all the way from his front yard to tell him that _now_ was the time to _go_. Somehow, he instantly knew that it all had something to do with Shiro.

**Author's Note:**

> i will reupload my other sheith work (aka all the pwps) later


End file.
